| [images added by
this website] Deutsche
Welle [a
German-government funded propaganda
website]
Thursday, December 28, 2006
"Let All
Opinions See the light of day"  The
British author is now banned from
Austria
DW-WORLD.DE
readers give their opinions on Austria's release of
Holocaust denier, David Irving.  David
Irving should never have been sent to prison in the
first place. If what he is saying is not true then
why should people be so intent on making sure he
can't say it? It could make one think that maybe
there is some truth in what he says -- if there was
no truth in what he says then why should it even
matter? -- Zac
I
would be very interested in DW-WORLD.DE doing a
comparison of Austria's jailing David Irving and
Turkey's bringing to trial authors on similar
charges. That is, daring to express opinions that
run contrary to what the government authorizes.
Turkey at least has the excuse of its culture and
recent struggles with "westernization." Austria and
Germany have no such excuses. As long as these
countries have such laws on the books, there can be
no question of freedom of expression. Of course, it
goes without saying that when an author writes a
book such as Irving's, which was not factual,
heavy-handed tactics against the author only cause
people to wonder if the author is revealing a truth
and the government is trying to shut him up.
Self-defeating is the only way to describe it. Let
all opinions see the light of day and let the truth
win out in the market place of ideas. -- J.L.
Ronish To
imprison a man for expressing his beliefs, no
matter how unpopular or contrary to fact, is
incompatible with a free society. Criminalizing
speech, like the creation of concentration camps,
is a National Socialist concept. -- John Boyer,
USA Irving says
he never denied the Holocaust David
Irving should never have been arrested. The law
against Holocaust deniers should be repealed. There
should be an open discussion about the facts. Truth
will provide the clarity and the rightness of
beliefs. -- Andrew Schneider Irving's
incarceration was disgusting. One may not agree
with him, but free speech is a fundamental human
right. Do the Germans and Austrians feel they are
genetically programmed for murder and therefore
need these oppressive laws or that they are not
deserving of intellectual freedom? Why should this
one event in history be off-limits to new research,
fresh analysis or revision when no other historical
event is? That is how history is defined. How dare
anyone tell us what we can read, think or write? Is
the EU becoming a vehicle for "thought police" and
"history police?" Where is democracy in this? Shame
on countries with such restrictive laws. -- L.
Schaitberger It
is outrageous that someone has actually been
accused, tried, convicted and served time in jail
for denying the Holocaust. I do not condone those
events and actions but this put the prosecutors in
the same position as the Nazis. Going to jail for
denying something ... outrageous! Won't be long
till we go back to stoning, jailing and burning
people at the stake for denying God. --
Carmen Iran held a
much criticized conference on the
Holocaust As
a Norwegian born 12 years after the war, I was more
or less brought up with the stories of the war. My
grandfather was arrested by the occupying Germans
and sent to a concentration camp but survived and
was released at the end of the war. I have heard of
all the crimes that were committed by the Nazis. We
have visited Dachau and seen the monuments to the
tragedy. And I have no reason to doubt that it
happened as we have heard. But I also know that we
haven't heard the whole story and we probably never
will. I think that you Germans, in particular,
should be allowed to say now that this is history,
it is over. In some years, all of those involved
will be gone and we must be able to put things
behind us and let it be history. Therefore,
historians must be allowed to investigate what
happened without restrictions. That means that a
number of countries have to change their laws so
views can freely be expressed. Historic truth can
not be settled by voting in a parliament. We have
to accept that there will be very different views
of what happened. And I think it is hypocrisy to
put someone to jail for expressing a view on a
historic subject when we claim that we have freedom
of expression. So let Irving come out and speak. --
Gustav Tengesdal, Oslo I
think it is right for Austria to release Irving. I
don't agree with his views in general but I don't
like these stupid laws that stifle free speech. The
truth cannot be upheld by lawmaker. The truth
upholds itself. -- Mark Goetz Irving
should not have been released. Let me add here that
all who are convicted for denial of the Holocaust
should be made to read documents -- and there are
tons of them -- which the Nazi authorities produced
for rounding up the Jews and "undesirables" for
extermination. And they should be forced to view
the films of the US Army signal corps when they
entered the concentrations camps. These films are
so graphic and moving, it would, in my opinion, be
impossible to claim forgeries or that they were
specially produced in an attempt to deceive. These
pitiful, mentally infirm individuals should be
forced to view the material gathered at the
liberation of the camps. -- James R.
Austin
He should never have been jailed. At a time when
US, British and German soldiers are dying for
freedom in Iraq, it is a travesty that someone
should be jailed for an opinion. I now have a
personal boycott of Austria and any country that
sides with it on suppressing free speech. -- Tom
Hartman  © 2006 Deutsche
Welle 
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